There are about 3753 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Hong Kong. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Insomnia is the most prevalent sleep problem in children and adolescents and it has been found to predict the development of mental health problems in young adulthood. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) has been found to be effective in both adults and adolescents. However, limited accessibility and availability of the treatment has only benefited a small proportion of insomnia patients. Therefore, digital CBT-I has been promoted as an alternative way to manage individual's insomnia problems with adequate efficacy. Nonetheless, one of the major limitations of the online self-help intervention is the relatively high drop-out rate and lower compliance compared to the face-to-face modality which the interactive component is less practical in the online intervention. Therefore, the objectives of current study are 1) evaluate the efficacy of mobile-APP based CBT-I in treating youth insomnia, 2) evaluate whether the provision of additional support could further enhance the treatment outcomes.
A Phase 2 study to evaluate the efficacy of nanatinostat in combination with valganciclovir in patients with relapsed/refractory EBV-positive lymphomas
Vertebral column fracture presents a significant warning of subsequent osteoporotic fracture and frequent falls. The presence of an osteoporotic vertebral fracture is also a predictor of further risk of vertebral and other osteoporotic fractures. This study provides balance assessment and gait evaluation for subjects with a known vertebral fracture. Subjects are the known cases of vertebral fracture living in the community. They will be assessed for their balance and gait weight distribution by the TechnoBody for their balance ability, and the Zebris Gait System for the gait weight distribution. The Humac Norm for the lower limb muscle strength.
Domiciliary non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is a standard care for improving survival rates of selected patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure (CHRF) and to improve the patients' hypercapnia, sleep quality, health-related quality of life (QoL). Adherence is an important factor affecting clinical effectiveness of domiciliary NIV. Our previous study has noted the associations between poor domiciliary NIV adherence and increased number of clinical adverse events (p = 0.004) and increased hospitalization requiring acute NIV salvage (p = 0.042). However, there are very limited studies on adherence to domiciliary NIV in patients with CHRF. The only interventional study was a single-group pre-test post-test study and lack of a theoretical framework for guiding the intervention. This study is employing an Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills (IMB) model-based intervention to improve inhalation adherence in a group of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.
The purpose of this study is to identify the variations in gut microbiota compositions between two subtypes of major depressive disorder.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of transranial pulse stimulation (TPS) on young adults with symptoms of depression in Hong Kong. Methods: This is a single-blind randomized controlled trial design with two-armed repeated measures, and participants will be followed up at a 3-months post-stimulation period. Eligbility: 1) aged 18 or over; 2) able to understand/read Chinese; 3) HAM-D-17 score of ≥ 8; 4) provide written informed consent. Exclusion criteria includes: 1) individuals being prescribed a DSM-5 diagnosis other than major depressive disorder (e.g., bipolar affective disorder or schizophrenia); 2) Alcohol or substance dependence; 3) Concomitant unstable major medical conditions or major neurological conditions such as brain tumour, brain aneurysm; 4) Haemophilia or other blood clotting disorders or thrombosis; 5) Significant communicative impairments; 6) Participants with metal implant in brain or treated area of the head; 7) Participants who undertook corticosteroid treatment within the last six weeks before first TPS treatment; 8) Pregnant or breastfeeding women. Recruitment: A total of 30 subjects will be recruited from collaborative NGOs and PolyU and randomly assigned into the Intervention Group (TPS) and the Waitlist Control Group on a 1: 1 ratio. Intervention: All participants (both TPS group and the waitlist control group) will receive six 30 minute-TPS sessions (300 pulse in each session, total: 1800 pulse) in 2 weeks' time. Outcome measurements include depression, anhedonia, instrumental activities of daily living, cognition and neuroimaging.
Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a prevalent and debilitating condition. Conventional medications cannot control all symptoms and may inflict adverse effects. A survey reported that Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is frequently sought. Existing CHM trials were contradictory and often of poor quality due to a lack of methodological rigor. A national clinical guideline was drafted in China with diagnostic criteria and treatment strategy of Chinese medicine (CM) patterns subgroups of PD. The suggested CHM was found to exhibit a neuroprotective effect in in vitro and in vivo studies. This trial aims to preliminarily assess the effect of CHM prescribed based on pattern differentiation on PD symptoms and patients' quality of life, and evaluate the feasibility of the trial design for a future large-scale trial. Methods: This trial will be a pilot assessor- and data analyst blind, add-on, randomised, controlled, pragmatic clinical trial. 160 PD patients will be recruited and randomised into treatment or control groups in a 1:1 ratio. The trial will be conducted over 32 weeks. PD patients in the treatment group will be stratified into subgroups based on CM pattern and receive CHM accordingly in addition to conventional medication (ConM). The control group will receive ConM only. The primary outcome will be part II of the Movement Disorder Society Sponsored Revision of Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS). Secondary outcomes will include part and total scores of MDS-UPDRS, domain and total scores of Non-motor symptom scale (NMSS). Adverse events will be monitored by monthly follow-ups and questionnaires. Mixed models will be used to analyse data by Jamovi and R. Expected outcomes: The success of our trial will show that the pragmatic design with subgroup differentiation is feasible and can produce reliable results. It will also provide preliminary data of the effect of CHM on improving clinical outcomes and quality of PD patients. Data collected will be used to optimize the study design of the future large-scale clinical study. Ethical clearance: Ethical clearance of this study was given by the Research Ethics Committee of Hong Kong Baptist University (REC/20-21/0206).
Summary of Project: Elderly depression is a common mood disorder and the individuals will have persistent low mood and self-absorption that adversely affect their quality of life. Cognitive deficits including attention and executive function are commonly seen in elderly with depression. Qigong, a mind-body practice, is found to have an anti-depressive effect and improve cognitive functions. Yet, the underlying mechanism is still elusive. Hence, the present study aims to conduct a randomized controlled trial to investigate how the practice of Eight-Section Brocades, a type of qigong, affects the function of the central nervous system in elderly with depression, as measured by fNIRS. A total of 60 elderly (based on power analysis 80% (β= 0.20) chance (α = 0.05, two-tailed)), aged 65 or above, with depressive mood as indicated by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) will be recruited and randomly assigned to the treatment (eight-section brocades) and control (exercise) groups. We anticipate that this ancient Chinese mind-body based practice will result in (1) decreased depressive moods and improved cognitive functions, and (2) acute changes in the functional brain activation patterns in the PFC in elderly with depression. The results of this study will shed light on the neurophysiological underpinnings of the therapeutic effects associated with qigong, which will be invaluable for designing intervention for elderly with depression.
This study developed an online counseling program called "EASE Online" for Hong Kong people with social anxiety disorder. The program effectiveness was evaluated by a randomized controlled trial in reducing social anxiety and improving quality of life of the participants. The 3- and 6-month maintenance effects were also tested.
T1rho imaging is a new MRI technique that has strong potential in neuroimaging. This technique does not require exogenous contrast agents and has high spatial resolution. In this study we aim to characterise the normal appearance of T1rho in the brain parenchyma in healthy participants. T1rho values will be measured in normal brain structures.